Job No. 159441
- Job Title:
- Principal Systems Engineer
- Employer:
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University of Colorado at Boulder
- Location:
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Boulder , CO
- Posting Date:
- 28-Aug-2026
- Description:
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The Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) is seeking an accomplished Principal System Engineer to provide technical leadership for the development of world-class scientific instruments supporting a broad range of spaceflight missions. These instruments span Earth science, planetary science, heliophysics, astrophysics, and emerging national and international space initiatives.
As a Systems Engineer, you will serve as the technical integrator for LASP instruments throughout formulation, development, integration, environmental testing, launch, and mission operations. Working closely with scientists, project managers, and multidisciplinary engineering team, you will ensure that scientific objectives remain aligned with engineering decisions throughout the instrument lifecycle.
This is an opportunity to influence every aspect of flight instruments while working alongside internationally recognized scientists, engineers, and mission partners. Successful candidates are team focused, thrive in technically ambiguous environments, make sound engineering decisions with incomplete information, and know how to balance scientific performance, technical risk, cost, and schedule to deliver exceptional science.
CU is an Equal Opportunity Employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment. We are committed to creating a workplace where all individuals are treated with respect and dignity, and we encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.
Who We Are
Who We Are
LASP combines the agility of a university laboratory with the technical capability of a premier space mission organization. Engineers work directly alongside scientists, students, and mission operators, allowing technical decisions to move quickly while maintaining scientific excellence.
As part of the University of Colorado Boulder (CU), LASP began in 1948 and is a world-recognized space science research institute that implements the full life cycle of science missions from the definition of the science questions through the development of space flight hardware and the subsequent mission operations. We are the only research institute in the world to have sent science instruments to all eight planets, Pluto, and beyond the solar system.
LASP combines all aspects of space exploration through our expertise in science, engineering, mission operations, and scientific data analysis. As part of CU, LASP also works to educate and train the next generation of space scientists, engineers and mission operators by integrating undergraduate and graduate students into working teams. Our students take their unique experiences with them into government or industry or remain in academia to continue the cycle of exploration.
What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be
What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be
As a principal SE, you will become the technical conscience of an instrument, ensuring that engineering decisions made across disciplines remain aligned with the mission's scientific objectives. You will serve as a technical leader within the Systems Engineering organization by mentoring early-career engineers, shaping systems engineering practices for the instruments, and making instrument-level technical decisions related to the successful verification and validation of the instrument requirements to meet science objectives.
Technical Leadership
Serve as a technical authority for the flight instrument throughout formulation, development, integration, launch, and commissioning.
Lead multidisciplinary engineering teams spanning mechanical, electrical, optical, thermal, software, I&T, contamination control, reliability, and science.
Foster a collaborative engineering culture emphasizing technical excellence and sound engineering judgment.
Mentor junior systems engineers and contribute to the growth of the project's systems engineering organization.
Instrument Architecture
Define and evolve the instrument technical architecture.
Own instrument requirements, interfaces, verification planning, and technical baseline.
Guide instrument-level trade studies balancing science performance, technical risk, cost, and schedule.
Participate in the development of the Systems Engineering Management Plan and Concept of Operations.
Lead instrument technical reviews.
Integration to the Spacecraft
Participate in the development of spacecraft-to-instrument interface definitions.
Represent the instrument team in spacecraft technical interactions.
Ensure successful accommodation of instrument resources including mass, power, thermal, pointing, data volume, EMC, and fault management.
Guide instrument and spacecraft-interface verifications throughout integration and test.
Other Duties Assigned.
Instrument Development
Lead development of instrument assembly, integration, environmental testing, calibration, and characterization.
Coordinate specialty engineering activities including contamination control, reliability, radiation, safety, and fault protection.
Manage instrument technical resources and performance margins.
Lead anomaly investigations throughout development and operations.
What Success Looks Like
Deliver a flight instrument that has verified and validated instrument requirements to meet science objectives while balancing technical performance, cost, schedule, and risk.
Build a technically cohesive instrument team that collaborates effectively across disciplines.
Inspire confidence among scientists, engineers, project management, and mission partners.
Enable groundbreaking science through robust engineering decisions.
Establish an instrument architecture that successfully supports mission operations throughout the life of the mission.
What You Should Know
What You Should Know
Due to ITAR requirements, only US citizens and permanent residents may apply.
International travel may be required.
Relocation assistance may be available for this position.
- Contact information:
- University of Colorado at Boulder
- Boulder, CO 80309
- United States
- Employer's Website:
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